How can I properly weatherproof my living room from the inside when dealing with mold and a chewed through house wrap and plywood?
So, I was in the process of putting in some new flooring in my living room and when I took off the baseboards to paint them, I found some mold hiding underneath. It turned into a bit of a mess with a lot of tearing down and a few choice words. Now, I need to figure out how to properly weatherproof from the inside because some critter chewed through the house wrap and plywood, making it easy for moisture to get in. The outside has brick veneer that I really don’t want to mess with. My plan is to cut out the rotten 2x4s and replace them, along with the sill plate. I’ve done some framing work in the past, so I’m feeling pretty confident about that part. The current wood is so deteriorated that it’s not even holding up the window properly. Any advice would be appreciated, but my main concern is how to weatherproof from the inside. It seems like buying house wrap in smaller quantities is tricky – the smallest I’ve come across is 3 ft x 100 ft.
There could also be a rat’s nest causing some of the problems.
I work as a home builder
Any interior work will just end up being a waste of time
Just remove the brick veneer, demolish anything that needs fixing, and then reconstruct everything
There are no shortcuts to this
Do you think home insurance would cover this situation, ?
You might want to check with your agent, but could potentially help with that.
If this is positioned under a window, I would double-check to ensure that moisture isn’t seeping in due to a window installation issue. If there’s a chance of that happening, I would extend the inspection to the neighboring window to confirm everything is in order there as well.
Oh yeah, probably heading towards the window.
Seems like there are additional problems further up. There might be water getting in from somewhere else, possibly due to overgrown weeds or grass pushing against the siding. I’ve encountered this issue in Alaska and solved it by addressing it internally. It was mostly caused by a deteriorated sill plate.
I bet the inside of my walls looks just like that. There’s something behind me in the wall as I type this. 🙄
Spray foam makes such a difference! It’s 40% stronger and acts as a barrier against vapor, wind, and rodents. Have you seen how fiberglass batt insulation doesn’t hold up against mice? They tear it to shreds!
Rodents can be attracted to heat escaping from your house or food smells. Consider using 2lb. Foam after replacing any rotten wood. Also, make sure your gutters, downspouts, and landscaping are set up so that water flows away from the house.
Before you spray foam, make sure to apply Concrobium Mold killer on all surfaces and allow it to dry. This will effectively eliminate any remaining mold or mildew.
If you don’t start by fixing the outside properly, any interior work will be ineffective